Now that a navy veteran posted a photograph on social media that cost his employer, St. Louis company Drury Inns, a lucrative contract, him his job and exposed the location of some of the equipment that will be used to push back protesters when the time comes (we hope) and all of the online community is up in arms, it’s time to discuss the published target list and other such nonsense around town.

Those vehicles are most likely somewhere else out in Chesterfield Valley as it is right on one of the major highways that can get to anywhere in a hurry, and there are several huge hotel/conference centers out there. Â

In the flurry of information released here there and everywhere, a target list was released by the group Justice for Mike Brown. Â On it were the expected St. Louis County government offices, some popular local landmarks that are really tax-payer owned, politicians’ local offices, and…corporations? Â Emerson Electric is one thing. Â It’s been in Ferguson for decades, but Anheuser-Busch? Â Peabody Energy? Â Boeing? Olin Corporation? Â They have nothing to do with this. Â (Monsanto should be protested just on general principle.) Â And why those and not Graybar, Purina, Brown Shoe, Centene, Edward Jones, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, etc. Â (Just go down the Civic Progress membership list. Â There’s a lot more.) Â World Wide Technology is owned by a black man, David Steward, so they got a pass. Â Here’s the bird’s eye view of the map to give non St. Louisans an idea of where these targets are. Â The blue stars indicate where the shootings happened.

Some of the companies on the list are for visual impact. Â Olin is the manufacturer of Winchester ammunition. Â Boeing – the building publicized on the map is not headquarters, but one of the engineering black holes. Â Anheuser-Busch, well, it’s like being in Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory. Â What is interesting is how the list is divided: Potential Action Locations, Donors, Sanctuaries and Hospitals. Â It’s the second category that needs to be drilled down. Â All of them were donors to the re-election campaign of Bob McCullough, the St. Louis County prosecutor. Â Why he needs any sort of campaign is rather confounding. Â The man is so well respected in local government he runs unopposed from both parties. Â For the last twenty years.

What got lost as the protests gained national attention and Barack Obama and Eric Holder started meddling with the protesters, is that four days before the Michael Brown-Darren Wilson incident, the local primaries were held. Â The outgoing county executive, a black man, got beat by a 2 to 1 margin to the man who won the general election. Â They are currently not speaking. Â What the issue seems to be is that McCullough endorsed the man who beat the outgoing county executive. Â The fact that he doesn’t go easy on any criminals regardless of the color of their skin, doesn’t sit well in some quarters. Â That his father was a cop killed by a black man doesn’t change that. Â Just to be clear about this, all politicians involved are Democrats. Â (Lacy Clay’s office is even on the list. Â Really? Â Talk about a gerrymandered district.)

Far from being simply about race, at heart this is a local matter. Â The race-baiters latched on to it and because the St. Louis region is self-polarized, it is assumed racism lives here. Â One of the categories of targets is “cultural centers”. Â There are only four listed – the Peabody Opera House, Powell Symphony Hall, The Missouri Botanical Garden and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Â The opera house was just renovated (Peabody underwrote it) and is privately owned. Â The symphony is a stand alone non-profit, but the other two are essentially property of the taxpayers. Â There is a special tax paid in the city and the county to help finance the big five cultural institutions in order to keep them free for everyone or at least affordable, and those two are among the five. Â The symphony is not one of them. Â However, those are the symbols of “white privilege” moreso than the Zoo, Science Center and History Museum. Â (Maintaining those places is a lot of work for any sort of privilege to be claimed.)

Simply browsing the Gateway Pundit website for the last two days which is now being denigrated by the scanners as putting out misleading and/or false information, a whole list of other headlines with images and sources fleshes out the chaos:

“St. Louis University Sends Out Ferguson Protest List to Student Body” – great. Â Just great. Â It’s mostly safety tips, but really? Â Didn’t the pope yank Father Biondi out of there for a reason?

“Ferguson Group Terrorizes Local Family With Kids – Posts Their Home Address on Targeting List” – The national people behind the organizers don’t seem to know where the residential parts of Clayton are.

“Radical Ferguson Activist Group Starts Amazon Wedding Registry to Get People to Buy Their Riot Supplies” – It appears to be humanitarian relief for the protesters. Â Don’t think I’ll be contributing to that.

“POLL: One-In-Three Ferguson Blacks Believe Shooting of Mike Brown Was JUSTIFIED” – these are the people who aren’t protesting and shake their heads when the topic comes up.

“FBI: Ferguson Decision ‘Will Likely’ Lead to Violence – Electrical & Water Treatment Plants Targeted” – seriously, people, you do not want to drink that water straight out of the Mississippi River.

“CAUGHT ON TAPE: Ferguson Activists Discuss Plans to Target White Areas (Video)” – well, only South Florissant rather than West Florissant, though. Â The rest of us haven’t been mentioned.

Chaos. Â That’s what we have. Â Add this from today “No Justice, No Peace! Ferguson Protest Leader Has Car Stolen During ‘F*ck The Police’ Rally.” Â There’s some poetic justice in that, but at the same time, this it’s time for this to be over.

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About the Author

A resident of Flyover Country, Cultural Limits is a rare creature in American Conservatism - committed to not just small government, Christianity and traditional social roles, but non-profits and high arts and culture. Watching politics, observing human behavior and writing are all long-time interests.
In her other life, CL writes romance novels under her nom de plume, Patricia Holden (@PatriciaHoldenAuthor on Facebook), and crochets like a mad woman (designs can be found on Facebook @BohemianFlairCrochet and on Pinterest on the Bohemian Flair Crochet board).
In religion, CL is Catholic; in work, the jill of all trades when it comes to fundraising software manipulation and event planning; in play, a classically trained soprano and proud citizen of Cardinal Nation, although, during hockey season, Bleeds Blue. She lives in the Mid-Mississippi River Valley with family and two cute and charming tyrants...make that toy dogs.